Beth Cato's Blog, page 82
August 17, 2016
Bready or Not: Maple Apple Pie
This pie is my own original creation. I hacked together three existing recipes and amped up the maple to make something totally new. When I told my husband about how I melded everything, he said, “Oh, so it’s a Voltron pie.” That’s now our nickname for this Maple Apple Pie.
Maple sugar is the key ingredient in every step, but it’s just enough to embody the flavor without it going overkill. I highly recommend buying a big ol’ container of maple sugar–trust me, if you want to follow along with my recipes, you’ll go through it eventually. This is the brand I use:
[image error] [image error]
The most amazing thing about this? The filling sauce. I borrowed and modified it from a pear galette recipe (which I’ll feature this fall) from the cookbook Maple. It’s really more like a paste in texture, grainy and strong with a lovely combo of maple and lemon. You’ll want to lick the bowl.
This pie smells glorious. It’s like autumn, Thanksgiving, Christmas. And the taste… well. My husband adores my Caramel Apple Pie and considers it his all-time favorite.
Or it was, until he had Voltron Pie.
That’s right. This maple-filled pie is the new champion in the Cato household.
Bready or Not: Maple Apple Pie
Save
A Bready or Not original. This Maple Apple Pie is infused with maple sugar through every layer. If you love apple pie and love maple, this pie is your destiny.
Crust:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon maple sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons (1/2 cube) unsalted butter, cold
2 Tablespoons avocado oil or canola oil
3 to 5 Tablespoons ice water
Filling:
4 to 5 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or one vanilla pod, scraped
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup maple sugar
Crumb topping:
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold
Combine crust ingredients. Work in butter until it is just pea-sized, and use only as much water as needed to make the dough cohesive. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or a few days.
Roll out dough to equal thickness and place in pie dish. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze while preparing the filling, or freeze for several days.
Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Peel and core apples and slice to 1/8s or smaller. Toss them in a light dusting of flour to prevent sticking. Place apples in pie crust on a cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, lemon juice, flour, and maple sugar; it'll form a thick maple paste. Set aside.
In another small bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Use a fork and knife to reduce the butter to pea-sized chunks.
Return to the maple sauce. Give it a good stir, and drizzle thick syrup all over apples. Cover evenly with crumb topping.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the apples are tender when stabbed with a fork.
OM NOM NOM!
Save
Save
August 16, 2016
WorldCon Schedule 2016 – plus free breakfast at Central Library on Saturday!
I’ll be at WorldCon in Kansas City, Missouri from August 17th to 21st. I have a whole bunch of panels lined up, so if you are there, come find me! As long as I’m not in a crazy rush or in the bathroom, I’m okay with pausing to sign books most anytime, too.
Also, big news: I’m doing a release event for Breath of Earth on Saturday the 20th and my publisher is hosting a free continental breakfast! It’ll be at 10:30 AM at the Central Library, just a few blocks north of the convention center and hotels. I’ll talk books with Becky Chambers, author of the wonderfully cozy The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (seriously, this is one of my favorite scifi reads in recent years). This will be the first time that Breath of Earth will be up for sale!
Thursday Aug 18, 2016
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
SFWA Autographing: Beth Cato
Kansas City Convention Center – SFWA Table
Don’t believe the ‘official schedule’ saying this is just 50 minutes. I’ll be at this table for 2 hours. Drop by and chat!
Friday Aug 19, 2016
10:00 AM
Is Steampunk Alternate History?
Kansas City Convention Center – 3501H
Dialog 1 hour
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Reading: S.B. Divya and Beth Cato
Kansas City Convention Center, 2202
Reading 30 minutes
THERE WILL BE COOKIES
5:00 PM
The Future of Food
Kansas City Convention Center – 3501F
Panel 1 hour
6:00 PM
‘It Takes a Pack to Raise a Child’ Families and Friends in Steampunk
Kansas City Convention Center – 2503B
Panel 1 hour
Saturday Aug 20, 2016
10:30 AM
Meet & Eat with Authors Beth Cato and Becky Chambers
Central Library, a few blocks north of the convention center and hotels
ain’t over ’til it’s over
2:00 PM
Other Others in Urban Fantasy
Kansas City Convention Center – 2206
Panel 1 hour
4:00 PM
Magazine Group Reading: Flash Fiction Online
Kansas City Convention Center – 2202 (Readings)
Group Reading 1 hour
#SFWAPro
Save
August 15, 2016
Brooke Johnson guest post: “Why I Love the Heroines of Victorian Steampunk”
I’m happy to welcome fellow Harper Voyager steampunk author Brooke Johnson today! Her newest novel, The Guild Conspiracy, came out this past Tuesday, and continues her Chroniker City series.
“Why I Love the Heroines of Victorian Steampunk”
When people think of steampunk, they usually think of the Victorian Era—bustles, corsets, rose-tinted glasses, gas lamps, parasols, and da Vinci-esque contraptions made of clockwork and steam—and for good reason. The romantic flair of nineteenth century Victorian Britain is the steampunk genre’s bread and butter.
Most modern steampunk is set in the prim and proper sociopolitical atmosphere of the Victorian British Empire, with daring heroines who face all manner of dark creatures and machines within the pages of their respective books. There’s a certain romantic quality to a strong-minded woman trying to make her way in man’s world, with sensibilities more fitting for the modern world than the straight-laced rigors of nineteenth century society—and yet, still relevant in the oppressive patriarchal society of today.
Here are women far braver and cleverer than those of us reading their stories. They inspire us to do better, to be better, because for all our troubles as women in the world today, the heroines of Victorian fiction have much greater obstacles to face—and that’s not counting the vampires, werewolves, governments, and conspiracies they take down along the way. Their problems are the same as ours: the trivialization of all things feminine, the disregard for women’s rights, the inequality between genders, the expectations of beauty, and the apparent necessity to appeal to the male gaze. For all our “social progress” since the 1800s, these same problems are relevant today, and seeing these steampunk heroines act against the injustices of their time, however small their actions may seem, or how insignificant their accomplishments are in the grand scheme of things, they refuse to sit by and let things continue as they are. They seek to change the world, to carve a place for themselves in a world where they are looked upon as the inferior sex.
It’s inspiring to read about their journeys, to see a part of ourselves in those characters and connect with them through their trials. Through them, we can dare to dream, dare to hope, dare to aspire to greater things.
That was my goal when I wrote The Brass Giant, the first book in the Chroniker City series. The main character of The Brass Giant and The Guild Conspiracy is a young female engineer who is forbidden to join the Guild—an exclusive brotherhood of engineering elite—for the sole reason that she is a girl. Despite that, she tries anyway, going so far as to risk treason to get one step closer to seeing her dreams realized. In a world where all the odds are stacked against her, she doesn’t give up, even when she fails, and to me, that’s admirable—even if it does get her into loads of trouble.
So, why do I love the heroines of Victorian steampunk? Because they are stronger, braver, and cleverer than me. They inspire me to be a better person, to stand up to the injustices of the world and make this world, this time-period, a better place for the generations to come—even if all I ever do is put pen to paper. I can only hope that my words inspire a young girl to dare to follow her dreams, to be unafraid of what the world may throw at her, and to show her that she deserves a place in the world just as much as any man.
Where to buy The Guild Conspiracy:
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
BIO:
Brooke Johnson is a stay-at-home mom and tea-loving author. As the jack-of-all-trades bard of the family, she journeys through life with her husband, daughter, and dog. She currently resides in Northwest Arkansas but hopes one day to live somewhere a bit more mountainous.
Save
Save
August 14, 2016
Sunday Quote prepares for Kansas City and Worldcon
“This must be a good book. It simply must. I haven’t any choice. It must be far and away the best thing I have ever attempted — slow but sure, piling detail on detail until a picture and an experience emerge. Until the whole throbbing thing emerges. And I can do it. I feel very strong to do it.”
~John Steinbeck
August 12, 2016
Interview with Nancy K. Wallace, author of GRIM TIDINGS
I’m happy to welcome my Harper Voyager sibling Nancy K. Wallace to my site today. The second book in her Wolves of Llisé series came out last week, and she’s here to talk about the myth behind her novels–and as a librarian, recommend some of her favorite reads!
Book two in the sumptuous Wolves of Llisé trilogy: As the son of Llisé’s ruler, Devin Roché knows its laws only too well. It’s a land where keeping historical records is forbidden. To do so would mean imprisonment – or death.
Only bards may share the histories of their provinces, but Devin’s quest to learn from them ended in tragedy. His best friend Gaspard has been kidnapped, Master Bards are being murdered and whole communities are disappearing. Clearly someone doesn’t want Devin to know the true history of Llisé.
With his guard Marcus and a wolf pack for protection, Devin sets out to discover the truth. But as terrible secrets come to light, Devin realizes that some knowledge can be deadly.
- Grim Tidings is the second book in your Wolves of Llisé series. What is the French legend that inspired you, and how does this work into your books?
The legend is the story of the Beast of Gévaudan, and I’ll add a little background to it. Apparently toward the end of the 18th century, France had a terrible problem with wolves in its rural provinces. The Beast of Gévaudan was an unusually large wolf that terrorized the countryside near the Margeride Mountains. It was shot and killed by Jean Chastel, who becomes a nobleman in my book. As far as the legend goes, there were rumors that Chastel actually trained wolves to obey him. This bit of information sent me off on a tangent and Among Wolves was born.
- Have you traveled to France–and if not, how have you done so vicariously?
I have not traveled to France although I would love to someday. I have a lot of books on France and a Pinterest collection labeled Llisé that gives me ideas for the villages and countryside. Thankfully, these books are fantasies not travel books and I do have some leeway.
- I would love to know more about the important role that bards play in your series.
I was first fascinated by bards after reading Patricia McKillip’s Riddlemaster Trilogy. I love the idea that stories are something you can conveniently carry with you. You don’t need props or scripts, they are just there in your mind. I’ve often thought that if some cataclysmic event occurred on earth, that I would be able to reinvent the phone or electricity but I could tell stories.
In my trilogy, literacy is not only discouraged but punished. Storytelling provides a way of recording the important events in the lives of the provincial people. The meticulous way that the bards retell the tales ensures that accuracy is preserved. It is when Devin discovers that the official government archives disagree with the provincial chronicles, that trouble begins.
- You’re a librarian. What are some of your favorite books to recommend to children or adults?
Oh dear, you shouldn’t have asked! I have to admit that I adore picture books! One of my favorites is: I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. I sing it at story time and use a huge paint brush to demonstrate. Another great one is Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead. Bear is so excited to pass his story on to his friends but they constantly interrupt him with requests for help to get ready for winter. Bear finally falls asleep, his tale untold, and wakens to discover he has forgotten it! I just bought a wonderful book for the library called Choose Your Days by Paula Wallace. It’s this sweet story about life and its brevity proving that picture books are not just for kids! I look for gentle books for children. Their lives are so frantic and I think they need warm, comforting books that they can disappear into.
I rarely read adult books but two I love are A Brief History of Montmoray by Michelle Cooper and The House at Tyenford by Natasha Solomons. Both stay with you long after the book is closed. I tend to cherish books that touch me emotionally and both of these did.
– What are you working on next?
I have a YA novel that is finished and an adult novel that is almost done. The adult one takes place in Renaissance, Italy. I also have two great ideas for middle grade novels but I have to finish my third book in the Wolves of Llisé series first. I will admit some reluctance to having it be finished! After having lived with these characters for a few years, I don’t want to say goodbye!
Order Among Wolves (book 1) and Grim Tidings (book 2).
***
Nancy K. Wallace loves chocolate, Christmas, and puppets! She collects fairytales and folklore and houses them in dozens of bookcases (alphabetically according to country). Her pets include four lovely cats, and an Arab mare named Ariel. She lives with her husband in a 140 year old farmhouse named Chevonwyck. Fortunately, she has a family who is tolerant of her obsessions and excellent at proofreading! Nancy is the author of 19 children’s books plus The Wolves of Llisé series for new adults. She has reviewed YA literature for VOYA magazine for 20 years.
August 11, 2016
Clockwork Dagger and Clockwork Crown Amazon Giveaway
***
Psst. Remember that ebook sale I posted about a few days ago? Well, guess what–you can win outright win** the ebooks of The Clockwork Dagger and The Clockwork Crown!
It’s easy if you have an Amazon account and a Kindle or Kindle app. Click here to enter for a chance to win Dagger and here to enter for a chance to win Crown. All you have to do is follow me on Amazon, which means you’ll get notifications when I have a new book out. When you enter, you’ll be told right away if you’ve won. If you didn’t, well… did I mention the ebooks are on sale?
Clockwork Dagger $1.99: Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Kobo | iTunes
Clockwork Crown $2.99: Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Kobo | iTunes
**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends 8/15/15 11:59PM, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules.
#SFWAPro
Save
Save
Save
August 10, 2016
Bready or Not: Limed-Up Cream Cheese Pound Cake
For our second installment of CAKE/PIE MONTH, I present a tender, moist pound cake that’s embodied with a fresh lime flavor!
To glaze this cake, I tested out a technique I saw on the Great British Baking Show. It worked like a charm, and it’s something I’ll do with all of my poke cakes in a bundt pan from here onward.
If you haven’t seen the Great British Baking Show (known in the UK by its original moniker of Great British Bake Off), GO SEE IT. It’s on Netflix, YouTube, and the PBS website. This is the show that helped me to survive my edits for Breath of Earth and to write Call of Fire in one month. Not only is it about creating lovely baked goods, it’s about achieving technical, chemical perfection in a reality show environment that is completely positive. No back-stabbing, no contrived drama.
The bakers work under an extraordinary time crunch. In one episode, a baker needed to glaze a bundt cake very quickly. They poked the cake all over and put it back in the pan to pour the glaze. This way, most of the glaze went INSIDE the cake, as intended for a poke cake, and did not puddle the plate.
I watched. Mind. Blown.
The technique totally works. My bundt cake was perfectly moist all the way through because the glaze had a chance to soak in from all angles.
This bundt cake has such a lovely flavor to go along with the moist texture, too. This is the kind of cake that is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, and is great with fruit, ice cream, or a simple cup of coffee.
It would be great to eat while watching the Great British Baking Show.
Modified from Relish Magazine.
Bready or Not: Limed-Up Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Save
This lime-fresh cream cheese pound cake is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! If you use a special technique learned from the Great British Baking Show, the glaze will penetrate the cake and make it especially tender all the way through. Modified from Relish Magazine.
Cake:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 limes, zested and juiced
Glaze:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup powdered sugar, optional for garnish
Preheat oven to 325F. Thoroughly grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs alternately with flour, mixing well after each addition. Add salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and the zest and juice of both limes. Mix until combined, taking care not to overbeat. That could dry out the cake.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes and then plop it onto a rack to cool some more. Don't wash the pan yet!
While the cake is still warm, use skewers or chopsticks to poke holes all over the top.
Mix the glaze ingredients (sugar, butter, lime juice) in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil for about one minute, then remove from heat.
Set the cake back inside the pan; poke more holes in the base of the cake. Slowly pour or ladle glaze over the holes. Let that soak in. Use over half the glaze, then carefully tip the cake onto a cake plate. Slowly drizzle the rest of the glaze into the holes.
Let the cake cool completely. Add dusting of powdered sugar before serving
OM NOM NOM!
Save
August 9, 2016
EBOOK SALE: Clockwork Dagger $1.99, Clockwork Crown $2.99!
To build up to the release of Breath of Earth in two weeks, Harper Voyager has set ebooks for Clockwork Dagger and Clockwork Crown on sale. A BIG sale. Clockwork Dagger is $1.99 and Clockwork Crown is $2.99; both are usually $10.99!
(Psst. If you already own these books and want to give them as gift ebooks, it’s very easy to do so through Amazon or Barnes & Noble!)
Clockwork Dagger: Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Kobo | iTunes
Clockwork Crown: Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Kobo | iTunes
Please help spread the word. Feel free to grab the graphic above and share on your site or social media. Thanks!
#SFWAPro
Save
Save
Save
Save
August 7, 2016
Sunday Quote rejoices over Cake Month
“A story is a narrative description of a character struggling to solve a problem. Nothing more, nothing less.”
~Ben Bova
August 3, 2016
Bready or Not: Maple Sour Cream Bundt Cake
IT IS BOOK RELEASE MONTH. IT IS CAKE AND PIE MONTH. Oddly enough, the emphasis will be on maple. Gee, you might think I like the stuff.
I am starting out with what might be the best bundt cake recipe I have ever made. Yes, it even rivals the infamous Tunnel of Fudge Cake.
This recipe is extremely close in flavor and texture to the holy-moley-amazing Maple Walnut Cake, minus the walnuts. The Maple Walnut Cake is stunning to eat but it’s also very time-consuming to make because it’s a layer cake.
This bundt cake is EASY. It whips together in no time.
The cake itself is like a moist pound cake–soft, tender, and sweet with maple.
I opted for a glaze rather than a frosting. Tweak the liquids to make that as thick as you want, but really, the cake is sweet on its own so you don’t need a big layer here.
Some of these pictures look almost pornographic, don’t they?
Yes, the glaze is as good as it looks. You can’t go wrong with powdered sugar, cinnamon, butter, and maple flavor. Well. I guess you can go wrong if you’re diabetic.
CONSUME AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Modified from Overtime Cook.
Bready or Not: Maple Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Save
This luscious, amazing cake has the texture of a tender pound cake with an added oomph from a thin maple glaze. This cake will blow your mind and your waistline!
Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple flavor (optional but recommended)
1 cup pure maple syrup (NOT flavored pancake syrup)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sour cream
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tb butter, melted
3/4 tsp maple flavoring (or vanilla, if that's all you have)
1+ Tb water
Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray with added flour, or grease well and sift flour over the surface.
In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour in the vanilla extract, maple flavor, and maple syrup.
In a small bowl, sift together the baking powder and flour. Add some of the flour mix to the big bowl, followed by sour cream, going back and forth until all of the cake ingredients are mixed together.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until it passes the toothpick test. Let it cool for about ten minutes in the pan and then carefully plop the cake onto a wire rack to completely cool down. Once it is room temperature, it's time to glaze.
Mix together all of the glaze ingredients together EXCEPT the water. Dribble in the water. Stir well. Add more water if needed to achieve desired consistency.
OM NOM NOM!
Save
